Herrin on Provisional Pole at Barber

By Henny Ray Abrams | 6/17/2011 3:11 PM

BIRMINGHAM, ALA, JUNE 17 - Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin took the provisional pole for this weekend's Daytona SportBike races with a pair of fast laps at the end of qualifying on a drying track at Barber Motorsports Park.Heavy rain and gusting winds shut down all track activity soon after the start of Daytona SportBike practice at noon. By the time DSB riders took to the 2.38-mile road course for a 45-minute qualifying session at 4:00 p.m., there was a mostly dry line that continued to dry, though a stream in the downhill turn 12 right made the end of the lap an adventure.M4 Suzuki's Dane Westby was fastest early on, but would slide down the order as the pace picked up. Herrin took over the top spot with 20 minutes to go and mostly held it. Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo (Duc) was on top near the end of the session when Herrin went back to the lead with a lap of 1:29.654 mins. On his next lap, Herrin set the fastest time of 1:29.582.The lap is just over a second slower than last year's pole time of 1:28.374 mins., also set by Herrin.DiSalvo finished with a time of 1:29.780 mins., the only other rider to crack the 1:29's. Next to him on the provisional front row is another Ducati, the Celtic Racing/Fast by Ferracci Ducati 848EVO of PJ Jacobsen. Vesrah Suzuki's Cory West finished at the end of the front row.Yamaha Extended Service/Pat Clark Sports' Tommy Aquino led off row two from three Suzukis; Geico Powersports/Richie Morris Racing's Danny Eslick, Westby, and the second Vesrah Suzuki of Taylor Knapp.

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.